Electronic watch circuits for controlling the watch are known from the prior art, i.e. for example for counting seconds, rotating the hands or managing the user's manual action on the buttons of the watch. The electronic circuits of the prior art include a processor associated with a non-volatile memory that stores programme lines necessary for the watch to operate, in addition to peripheral member controllers. These peripheral member controllers are responsible for forming the link between the peripheral members of the watch, such as for example the motor/hands assembly, the chain division or other members.
In this type of electronic circuit, management of the watch is entirely under the control of the processor, through which all communications between the various elements take place. For example, if the user switches on the chronograph, by activating the appropriate button, the pressure on the button will cause a state change in the corresponding signal. This state change reaches the processor, which will then process this information to access the memory, search for the corresponding instruction and execute the instruction by ordering the peripheral members concerned to act in accordance with the instruction.
However, controlling a watch in this way raises some problems within the field of horology. In fact, one of the major concerns of the watch industry is to increase the lifetime of the battery of electronic watches. Controlling a watch in accordance with the prior art means that the processor is frequently in operation. For example, simply in order to display the time, the processor has to be switched on every second to increment the time counter and carry out the change in the display system. This necessarily involves non-negligible electrical power consumption, thereby reducing the lifetime of the battery.
Another problem linked to this type of control arises from the fact that the connecting means for transferring data are arranged such that all communications pass through the processor. Thus, each watch circuit is specifically wired in accordance with the functions that it has. This leads to a risk of significant stocks of electronic watch circuits being left over, if the circuits are not as successful as expected.